“Bullet time” is a type of visual effect widely used in filmmaking, broadcast advertisements, and real time graphics within video games and other special media. The science fiction film franchise series, “The Matrix”, is known for popularizing bullet time, which allows a shot to progress in slow motion while the camera appears to move through the scene at normal speed. Bullet time requires a large media budget and is very time consuming to produce. Conventional imaging systems and methods used to create bullet time require a physical studio space with a 360 degree green screen backdrop, an array of multiple cameras, and countless hours of post-production to render and stitch the shots together to achieve a seamless action shot. Further, subjects must stay within the physical confines of the camera array.
It would thus be desirable to have improved imaging systems and methods for capturing an orbiting image of a subject, among other desirable features as described herein, which avoid the disadvantages of conventional imaging systems and methods used in filmmaking and other media to create the “bullet time” effect.